Would anyone choose an iPhone 4S over a 5?

I need to hand back a (work provided) iPhone 4 soon, my old 3G was given away long ago and while I've considered WP7/8 and Android, I can't see that working out for me.

iPhone 5 is out now, but the new connector means all the 30-pin stuff I have is defunct - in the car, various desks, bedside charging stand, dock by the hifi, cables in laptop bags, and the charging case/mount on my motorcycle. I have a few cases I'm happy with too, which would obviously be useless with a 5.

Assuming I buy new rather than trawling ebay, is it worth the extra £80 (plus a load more for some leads/adaptors/cases) to go for the 5, or should I just go for a 4S and get a nicer version of what I already have? Am I mad to skip the new hotness for the old model?

The 5 is a better phone, lighter, thinner, faster and bigger screen. I bought a couple of USB to 8-pin cables (?) and plan on plugging into my old power supplies etc. that all had USB plugs on them. Yes, you need a new case, but these are starting to appear now. Only you can say if the extra funds is worth it to you, it was to me. One change I did make is due to the cloud I went with a 16 GB instead of the 32 GB my old phone had. To me the 5 feels a lot smaller even though it is larger in area. You would not think the slight decrease in weight and thickness is that big a deal but in the hands you notice it. Used my daughter's Droid X the other day, yes this is a bit older than the new Android phones, but it just felt like holding an old old phone.

I had a 4S and I now have a 5. Right now, there aren't as many cases for the 5 and they are sold at full price. iPhone 4S cases are being cleared out. There are very few iPhone 5 Lightning connected products, including having to pay full price for the USB cable. So yes, I can totally understand the pull towards the 4S.

I think these are the questions to ask:1) how much investment do you have in the 30 pin connector?1a) how much of a pain is the ass is the 30 pin to lightning adapter(s) going to be in your life?1b) can you do a clean sweep or do other people have 30 pin connector devices in your life?2) what carrier are you on? (following based on U.S. situation)2a) how much will you regret not having LTE within your 2 year contract period? If you are on AT&T, it might not be much of a loss since HSPA+ is going to be good enough. If you are on Sprint or Verizon (or other legacy CDMA carrier), then the drop off to EVDO can be perceived as brutal. Everyone is expecting near full LTE deployment by end of 2013 or beginning of 2014, or before the end of your 2 year contract.2b) if you are not signing a 2 year commitment, then you might be able to move earlier if this item is a sticky point2c) you might not care for the speed3) The additional screen real estate and color is very, very nice. Do you care enough?4) The iP5 will have more "headroom" so by the end of 2 years, there will probably be a difference that will show up against the 4S that isn't as apparent right now. Will that bother you?5) iPhone 5 has aluminum back, which is probably going to survive longer given a minimal case to prevent scratching. Depending on the case you get, the iPhone 4S might shatter earlier than an iPhone 5.6) iPhone 5 battery life might be longer, depending on your usage. Anandtech has not gotten their review out yet and I have not seen decent objective reviews that properly test battery life. But my AT&T iPhone 5 (no LTE coverage) has subjectively better battery life than my 1 year old 4S, but that is not under proper test conditions.

The iPhone 5 is a $100 premium at contract prices + the cost of lightning cables + lightning adapters and/or replacing any other 30 pin equipment. In return, you get a better screen, something lighter, double the CPU power, double the RAM, faster HSPA+, LTE w/o major battery life penalty. Other enhancements that might not be as interesting depending on your use case includes faster GPU, better camera (but purple fringing) and 5GHz Wifi.

If you live in an apartment situation where there are tons of overlapping 2.4GHz networks, then the 5GHz Wifi might be all the reason you need. If you live a big house, then 5GHz Wifi is probably meaningless.

Ultimately, if you buy either phone on 2 year contract, will you regret your choice 12-18 months into the contract when Lightning connectors are abundant and LTE is deployed enough?

I'd be buying SIM-free and unlocked (as we can in the UK), but that's a very similar price difference between 4S and 5 to the US.

In the car, I just need to charge as I stream audio over bluetooth, so not a big deal really. Bike is a pain as I have a hardwired, waterproofed 30-pin cable and an iPhone 4/4S sized case/mount - I'm sure they'll have 5 equivalents at some point though, hopefully before spring next year when I'd use it for longer trips again. At home I'd need a couple more leads as we have a few chargers dotted about.

No 4G or LTE in the UK yet. The spectrum it uses needs to be auctioned, and while that's been brought forward, we're looking at 9+ months. One network (EE) has been allowed to run 4G on some unused 2G spectrum in the meantime, but even they won't launch till the end of the month. Not a big factor for me anyway, we have good 3G coverage almost everywhere.

After experiencing LTE on my iPhone 5 this past two weeks after using 3G on my iPhone 4 for the last two years, its like going from dial-up to broad band. The LTE connection is actually faster (sometimes up to three times) than my home hi-speed internet connection.

The CPU in the 5 is basically twice as fast. It also has more RAM. Both make a big difference is apps like Safari that could use the extra memory and speed. Whether LTE is overhyped depends upon your area. In my area AT&T doesn't have it. The Verizon LTE is significantly faster than Verizon 3G but only slightly faster than AT&T 4G in most places. In big cities that seems different - AT&T LTE is extremely fast but Verizon even faster. I typically got around 12 mbs around Seattle on AT&T LTE but closer to 20 on Verizon LTE. That's extremely fast.

The new connector is surprisingly good. I thought I'd hate it but I've come to really like it. However many adaptors aren't out yet. And not having cables everywhere often ends up with you not charging regularly which affects battery.

I'm considering this same question right now as my contract is up in November, and am still leaning toward the 4S. Main reasons? The new connector, sure, but the larger screen is not a benefit with my use case: For me, a smartphone is about portable data access. Emphasis on portable, above all else. While the 5 is lighter, the increased size is not something I need or desire. For my uses, I don't feel constricted by the screen size of my iPhone 4 at all. You may want to evaluate your needs similarly.

I bought a 4S over a 5, but I like to stay one generation behind for cost savings purposes (got an incredible deal, really) and because I want Apple to iron out the kinks of the new body style and for the LTE networks/transition to expand/settle before I buy a phone in the 5 generation.

So, 4S until the 5S is out for me. The cost of the adapter transition isn't going to be crazy for me, as I'll only need two or three cables/plugs.

The iPhone 5 is the perfect model to skip if you already have a phone you're happy with. Especially in Europe, as the iPhone 5 is only compatible with one of the the three main LTE frequencies here, and most carriers have to start building LTE anyway. With some luck the next model will have better European LTE compatibility.

On the other hand, the 4S is still going strong now, but what about next year, after the release of the 5S? (Assuming you're on at least a 2-year upgrade cycle.)

It's annoying to lose compatibility with the existing eco system. but how often do you need to charge your phone, anyway? With one adapter you'll be in reasonable shape. Yes, you may have to carry the adapter or USB cable with you a bit more often, but is that enough to forego the iPhone 5's better screen (better colors, a bit brighter), additional speed, ability to shoot photos in low light and better audio?

Whether LTE is overhyped depends upon your area. In my area AT&T doesn't have it. The Verizon LTE is significantly faster than Verizon 3G but only slightly faster than AT&T 4G in most places. In big cities that seems different - AT&T LTE is extremely fast but Verizon even faster. I typically got around 12 mbs around Seattle on AT&T LTE but closer to 20 on Verizon LTE. That's extremely fast.

Using the Speedtest app, I saw download/upload speeds of 42.26/8.56 Mbps in Pearland Texas last week, on AT&T LTE.

I would potentially skip the 5 and save money by getting the 4s just to avoid the maps conundrum. I know the dead horse has been flogged, but I seriously can't imagine the other improvements offsetting the loss of the single most useful feature of the phone (for me anyways). The integrated public transit in Maps is 50% of the reason I own a smartphone. I tried out the web-based google maps on a friend's iPhone 5 and it was really really really bad compared to the iOS5 Maps.

...meanwhile, here in the Denver area -- with a metro population close to 3 million -- ATT has been promising LTE "RSN!" for like a year. Cripes.

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but how often do you need to charge your phone, anyway?

In regular use, not that often. Overnight, if that. But the advantage of the established 30-pin ecosystem is in an emergency when I've been using my phone heavily, there's always a 30 pin adapter available. Either one of the hojillion ones I've gathered over the years, or the hojillion others that every friend of mine seems to have. That's the difficulty of the plug switch. It's a temporary issue, to be sure, but that doesn't make it any less annoying, and it does enter into my thinking for what phone I want to commit to *right now*.

I think farfolen has a great approach: Most problems will work themselves out over time. So unless you absolutely need to have a feature the 5 offers, there's no down side to waiting out those teething pains. Let everyone else be the guinea pig.

Somewhat off topic, however, it appears that annoying Lightning cable authentication has been cracked so hopefully SE Asia will do its thing and reasonably priced cables will be on Monoprice shortly.

I'm pretty happy with the extra room on the display. It feels roomier, despite the device actually being smaller (OK, a little taller... but noticeably thinner and lighter). I was very happy with my 4S. I'm even happier with the 5. The display, LTE, and weight are rocking.

The CPU in the 5 is basically twice as fast. It also has more RAM. Both make a big difference is apps like Safari that could use the extra memory and speed. [snip]The new connector is surprisingly good. I thought I'd hate it but I've come to really like it. However many adaptors aren't out yet. And not having cables everywhere often ends up with you not charging regularly which affects battery.

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It's hard to believe that the 4S could feel slow, but now it does. It's really hard to go backwards. So if you think you might want to buy a 4S, do _NOT_ try out the 5

Ditto on the connector. I'm moving my single Lightning cable between my car and my nightstand daily, and I curse the USB connector every time I attempt to plug it in the wrong way, which is surprisingly much more often than 50/50 chance + a small amount of brainpower might predict. It's as if it's enticing me to plug it in wrong.

Of course the Lightning connector goes in properly, every single time. Lightning (and similar connectors) are the future.

I thought the 4S was slow the day I bought it. This after 3 months of iPhone 4 ownership. I really wouldn't have upgraded, but I needed Siri for work. Get the 5; the 4S isn't much of an upgrade over the iPhone 4, and the 5 is only marginally more expensive than the 4S. The Lightning conundrum is annoying, but with iPhone popularity being what it is, it won't take long for manufacturers to flood the market with 3rd party accessories. Besides, all future iOS devices will use Lightning going forward, so you don't want to be stuck with a 30 pin device 2 years from now, when no new 30 pin devices are being manufactured.

I thought the 4S was slow the day I bought it. This after 3 months of iPhone 4 ownership.

Coming from an iPhone 3G was like night and day. The 4S felt like the fastest, most responsive device I had ever seen. To be fair, I was coming from a phone that sometimes was so slow to answer a phone call that I missed it! The 5 is even better than that. I can't believe they could make iOS any smoother than they did.

If you're a heavy iPad2/3 user you might want stay with an 4S though. I know I find it annoying when my 5 makes my iPad3 feel pokey, especially with things like flyover in the maps. I'm not sure why it annoys me so but having the diminutive iPhone5 make its giant brother feel slow makes my inner geek shake a fist skyward

Having handled the 5 I submitted it to the Patented Method Of Sturdiness Testing. I made sure no Orange employees were watching, and picked the handset up.

Yes, it is light. So light it feels cheap. The black model had already lost most of the paint from around the frame. It looked worse than my 3GS after the argument with a concrete staircase. Another worrying thing about it is that I could bend it. Quite easily actually. The 4s when you attempt to bend it feels solid in your fingers, and try really hard and you get a light creak noise that makes you worry for the glass. The iPhone 5 on the other hand visibly bent a couple of millimetres. You do not expect something like that from a £500 telephone.

And it failed the drop test. I dropped it from about 14" and sure enough more paint came off the edge. It just feels shoddy from the start.

On the other hand, iOS does seem a little bit more snappy - though maybe that's because it's not bogged down with 16GB of music and photos like my 4S.

I eventually got served by a nice smiling woman who informed me that yes, I was indeed eligible for an upgrade, and would I like an iPhone 5?

I got the 4S a few months ago, so won't be upping to a 5, but if I had the choice now, I'd go with the 5. I much prefer the solid crystal form factor of the 4S (the 5 seems honestly too thin and light...I don't really want a phone that's skinny as a coked-up anorexic model). However, the 5 is going to be way more future proof. The CPU is a huge leap forward and future apps will be designed for the 1136*640 resolution.

I would potentially skip the 5 and save money by getting the 4s just to avoid the maps conundrum. I know the dead horse has been flogged, but I seriously can't imagine the other improvements offsetting the loss of the single most useful feature of the phone (for me anyways). The integrated public transit in Maps is 50% of the reason I own a smartphone. I tried out the web-based google maps on a friend's iPhone 5 and it was really really really bad compared to the iOS5 Maps.

A new 4S is going to come with iOS 6, so you're still going to get the new Maps.

Having handled the 5 I submitted it to the Patented Method Of Sturdiness Testing. I made sure no Orange employees were watching, and picked the handset up.

Yes, it is light. So light it feels cheap. The black model had already lost most of the paint from around the frame. It looked worse than my 3GS after the argument with a concrete staircase. Another worrying thing about it is that I could bend it. Quite easily actually. The 4s when you attempt to bend it feels solid in your fingers, and try really hard and you get a light creak noise that makes you worry for the glass. The iPhone 5 on the other hand visibly bent a couple of millimetres. You do not expect something like that from a £500 telephone.

And it failed the drop test. I dropped it from about 14" and sure enough more paint came off the edge. It just feels shoddy from the start.

On the other hand, iOS does seem a little bit more snappy - though maybe that's because it's not bogged down with 16GB of music and photos like my 4S.

I eventually got served by a nice smiling woman who informed me that yes, I was indeed eligible for an upgrade, and would I like an iPhone 5?

I said no, I'd like to strip £10 from my monthly contract.

Summary: if you don't put your phone in a case, the paint issues everybody's been talking about might apply to you.

...meanwhile, here in the Denver area -- with a metro population close to 3 million -- ATT has been promising LTE "RSN!" for like a year. Cripes.

Yup. They are promising it here with I think close to 2.5 million before the end of the year. I'm a bit skeptical. It's weird as with the population basically along a 100 mile narrow strip of housing aside the mountains it's perfect ground for towers and good coverage. Plus zoning is much easier here than in probably any place other than Texas. But still nothing. Interestingly the Verizon LTE is pretty hit or miss here. I was pretty shocked how much better it was in Seattle than here.

Texas will always have the best AT&T coverage given it's where AT&T rolls things out first. The question is the rest of the country.

Getting back to the 4s vs 5 I love everything about the 5 except the bigger screen. I really wish they'd kept the smaller size. It much harder to use one handed because you can't easily reach top of the screen. That wouldn't be a problem except many apps (Apple's maps being the worst) put buttons at the top. That means you need either a two handed use ala most Android phones or else you do this weird uncomfortable one handed shuffle the adjust the phone location in your palm.

Are you sure you were handling a genuine iPhone 5? Mine's certainly not bendy. Perhaps one too many customer test drops on your test model?

You dropped it and some paint chipped off? I'd be pretty pleased if that's all that happened - cracks or breaks or rattles would be much worse.

Yup. Genuine down to the weird brushed aluminium backside. It just seemed so... not brittle, that's the wrong thing entirely. It just had flex. Not in the glass but in the frame. Maybe this specific one had been knocked around enough to loosen the panels, I don't know.

Are you sure you were handling a genuine iPhone 5? Mine's certainly not bendy. Perhaps one too many customer test drops on your test model?

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How the hell are you bending it? I just popped mine out of its case and put some pressure on it, and it's _not_ bending in the slightest. Certainly not under any sort of pressure I would voluntarily put on a phone.

They are using a very soft aluminum that is much more prone to dents. They do that for the weight. I put a cheap case on mine ($3 off Amazon last week) and honestly I prefer the increased weight the case gives it. I think the 5 was already verging on being too light. I can't imagine what those iPod Touches must be like.

Since I commented earlier in this thread, I thought I should follow up: I wandered over to one of my local Apple Stores to fondle an iPhone 5 in one hand and a 4S (well, my existing 4 as a surrogate) in the other.

It's an impressive piece of technology. I agree that it's almost other-worldly light -- to a degree as compared to the 4/4S that may make up for the increase in height (which I was relatively neutral on before, but having used it, I actively see as a negative now. If anything feels constricting about the 4's screen is the width, not the height. The taller aspect of the 5 just looks goofy to me).

I'll also say the display phones (I was looking primarily at the black models) were positively beat to hell. Lots of visible chips and scratches in the metal surfaces. The white models looked much better. My nearly 2-year-old 4 looks pretty much the same as the day I bought it. So I too question the long-term durability of the black model in particular as compared to the 4/4S.

I didn't notice any flexing.

I don't know. It didn't sway me super hard in either direction. It's greatest asset may be its lightness, but I can totally understand now how some people think it feels cheap. It lacks the "solid piece of pristine glass" feel of the 4/4S. WIth no ATT LTE in my area (for now) and not seeing the benefit of the taller screen, the 5 doesn't, on the surface, offer me much over the 4S. The technological prowess of the 5's innards, however (cripes it was fast! FAST!) does make me think it may be the better long-term investment, assuming I can get used the unwieldily increase in size.

I prefer the taller screen. What's great is that when in landscape mode in Safari, everything is larger and more spread out. It feels more readable than before, with the extra width. I also like that in the Music app, the play controls/scrubber no longer overlap the album art.

I prefer the taller screen. What's great is that when in landscape mode in Safari, everything is larger and more spread out. It feels more readable than before, with the extra width. I also like that in the Music app, the play controls/scrubber no longer overlap the album art.

There seems to be a divide on landscape use - some people absolutely hate it and only use it when forced. Personally, I really wish they'd frickin' iPad-ify iOS completely and allow you to use it all in landscape mode ;_; There are ways to do it 60% of the way if you jailbreak - but for some, the apps just have no support.

Anyway - I think this probably makes a big difference in regards to opinion on the taller screen - people who like landscape will enjoy it quite a bit, while it may seem like Apple is 'caving to Android' for those who don't care for it.

I work for a wireless company and from my limited perspective at one kiosk with one carrier, tons of people are getting the 4s. Part of it is down to stock issues but the majority want to save $100 on contract and are coming from simple flip phones, sliders, Blackberrys or low-end Android phones from several years ago; they are happy enough with a 4s.

It's interesting with this iPhone launch, 4s sales have skyrocketed thanks to the 5. When the 4s launched, not nearly as many people were willing to buy a previous model.

Personally I went iPhone 4 --> Galaxy S3. I would've gotten a 5 but I only buy unlocked/easily unlockable devices and my employer gave me almost 60% off an unsubsidized S3 vs me paying close to $1000 (Ontario has 13% HST sales tax) for an unlocked 32GB iPhone 5.

The technological prowess of the 5's innards, however (cripes it was fast! FAST!) does make me think it may be the better long-term investment, assuming I can get used the unwieldily increase in size.

I don't have an iPhone 5 and haven't used one, but I'd imagine that if you do have one, you'd get used to the new size more quickly than you'd think. It's a device that you use every day, day in and day out, so it'll probably seem weird at first...and then one day (without noticing) you'll suddenly be used to it, and going back to a 4S will feel just as disorienting.

It's like when they switched the scroll direction in OS X Lion. For about the first week, I could not get used to it, but I made myself stick with it. Sure enough, at some point, I just naturally started scrolling the "right" way without thinking about it. Now when I go back to my old machine, I scroll in the wrong direction every time.